Hi everyone. I just had the first of a series of vaccinations for rabies three days ago and they told me I could have an 'incident' at some point in the next three days. Happy to say I am still fine and set for the next one at the end of this week. However, on reflection, I thought I would take the opportunity to apologize for anything rabid I may have posted in the last three days! I can't help but wonder if those little critters in my blood or the antibodies being created aren't just a little bit "off". So, very sorry if I have been somehow crazier than usual.

If anyone has experience or info on rabies they would like to post, please feel free. I understand it is quite a problem in some parts of the world and I always will appreciate being better informed about how to deal with it or even prevent something from happening. Anyone had much experience with rabid animals for instance? We have some heavy duty wildlife around here that can get pretty upset under some conditions but I don't think I have had any encounters with animals that I could say were rabid.

Anyways sorry for any apparent hostility.Metta and upekkha.

Last edited by nathan on Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Actually it is not a big deal. Not nearly the level of concern that Retro or Ven. Dhammanando have required. It has simply been odd. Probably the most reactive in my system of all of the horrible things that have gone in there this month to build up resistances to far more nightmarish diseases should I come into contact with one. Just studying them makes one very thankful for the preventive treatments we have for some of these. The rabies vaccine has been the most feverish for me so far and has been messing with my mood a lot. Also it has been difficult to sleep. A bit flu like without the head cold. So, if this is representative, in the microcosm, it gives me a solid reason to be very compassionate to any being who has contracted a full blown rabies infection. It must be a horrific condition to experience at length in a body previously unadulterated by antibodies. Probably like being on fire and really furious at the same time among other things.

BTW, glad to hear both retro and the Ven. are on the mend and intact even if not 100.00%. May they be well and happy, even so. May we all.

I'm sorry you are not well. My experience with rabies is non-existent. Australia remains a rabies-free zone. I hear the injections are non-too-pleasant either. Take care and you are definitely in my thoughts.Metta

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Just went through the rabies shot series recently (dog bite) and the only discomfort was the poke, like any other injection...

Be well...

Yeah, I'm sure there is nothing wrong for with me either, other than what is usually wrong with me! I am however completely atypical in some bizarre ways in both mind and body and I can provide both the physical and mental evidence for that fairly easily. Fortunately this changes nothing in terms of Satipatthana except for the content which is all secondary anyways but man, forget making sense of it. I am pretty good at faking it now though compared to when I was first un-crated and dropped onto the planet and the early years. Cool, finally found a use for that smiley. Anyways, beyond hypersensitive, through the roof, even with tons of practice, things are much calmer all around but still very peculiar. Main thing is the bizarre sensitivities and peculiar sensitivities. All tests come back neg. all diagnosis is speculative and ignorant so no one can help me except the BuddhaDhamma which is the only decent medicine we've got anyways. So, when I say I can feel them critters in there, it is not literal but the best way I can describe the distinct conditional distinctions of this new thing. It was the same with the other vaccinations so far. All going very well, just not the usual perceptual ranges of most people. What I have to watch about these things is the verbalization factor, I am pretty good about the body discipline but sometimes, before I can stop it, I will say or even post something really messed up. I figure, ok, it's on the record now, let sleeping dogs lie, but edit is more wide open here so maybe I will reconsider some more. Still, either way too many changes is going to mess other people up.

Back to rabies. Strange as it may seem, I do think it has been providing a weak but related insight into that effect, it has never been different with this body, be it a cigarette or a potato. If I attend to the process, it reveals itself for what it is. Rabies is from all appearances a real nasty one. So, I'm just glad we have skillful means and feel somehow more sympathetic for the plight of any being which does not. Thanks for the feedback all.

nathan wrote:What I have to watch about these things is the verbalization factor, I am pretty good about the body discipline but sometimes, before I can stop it, I will say or even post something really messed up. I figure, ok, it's on the record now, let sleeping dogs lie, but edit is more wide open here so maybe I will reconsider some more. Still, either way too many changes is going to mess other people up.

Nathan, if there is anything I or any of the other mods/admins can do to assist you here, please let us know.

nathan wrote:Back to rabies. Strange as it may seem, I do think it has been providing a weak but related insight into that effect, it has never been different with this body, be it a cigarette or a potato. If I attend to the process, it reveals itself for what it is. Rabies is from all appearances a real nasty one. So, I'm just glad we have skillful means and feel somehow more sympathetic for the plight of any being which does not. Thanks for the feedback all.

I think its great that you're able to utilise this experience for your own benefit. Its a wonderful opportunity.Metta

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

nathan wrote:What I have to watch about these things is the verbalization factor, I am pretty good about the body discipline but sometimes, before I can stop it, I will say or even post something really messed up. I figure, ok, it's on the record now, let sleeping dogs lie, but edit is more wide open here so maybe I will reconsider some more. Still, either way too many changes is going to mess other people up.

Nathan, if there is anything I or any of the other mods/admins can do to assist you here, please let us know.

nathan wrote:Back to rabies. Strange as it may seem, I do think it has been providing a weak but related insight into that effect, it has never been different with this body, be it a cigarette or a potato. If I attend to the process, it reveals itself for what it is. Rabies is from all appearances a real nasty one. So, I'm just glad we have skillful means and feel somehow more sympathetic for the plight of any being which does not. Thanks for the feedback all.

I think its great that you're able to utilise this experience for your own benefit. Its a wonderful opportunity.Metta

Ben

Sure Ben and thanks, metta always received with mudita and metta radiated in response. First, on the Rabies thing, I think I am well past the danger point, even the potential for asphyxia etc.. should be past now. Should be totally ready to feed the dogs! Just kidding, not sure practices in Jatakas are a good idea.

Only things I can say is what I have said from time to time to other mods where I've posted. Usually I think I am fairly on top of things. Sometimes I can get a bit far out or post something wrong. So, if at any time or for any reason there is cause to modify a post, delete a post, move or remove a thread or anything of the sort, please freely do so. I appreciate it. If possible simply admonish me and correct me in the thread just like anyone else but feel free to hold me to a higher standard at any time as well. If it makes sense maybe pm me about it but really it is for the best overall so there is never any need or expectation and you can just do what you think is best, I may not even notice it. In several years of posting around and about there isn't usually much need for it but if I enter a period where I feel particularly unpredictable I will usually let someone know. That would mean I am online and looking for some info that I need for some reason because usually I will just pull the plug on the computer for the duration. When I am doing a lot of meditation for an extended period I just pack the computer away for months. I find that there can be a lot of powerful subjective content in insight practice and it can require a lot of attention so the ability to function well, for me otherwise can be basically impaired to various extents. You can get to various points where things level out like equanimity nana but when you are really pushing hard through a lot of dukkha nana nastiness it can just be very difficult for a while so I really like to be as alone and tucked away from things until I am level in some way again.

This might be something to consider with meditation oriented people who post. If one meditates a lot they can be a fairly indistinct personality type sometimes because some big changes are unfolding internally. It varies. Some people have a totally blissful and increasingly happy ride but I doubt that is typical especially in our times with all of the internal and external conditions we usually have in our environments. I guess most of this belongs in another thread now, see what I mean?

nathan wrote:Hi everyone. I just had the first of a series of vaccinations for rabies three days ago and they told me I could have an 'incident' at some point in the next three days. Happy to say I am still fine and set for the next one at the end of this week. However, on reflection, I thought I would take the opportunity to apologize for anything rabid I may have posted in the last three days! I can't help but wonder if those little critters in my blood or the antibodies being created aren't just a little bit "off". So, very sorry if I have been somehow crazier than usual.

If anyone has experience or info on rabies they would like to post, please feel free. I understand it is quite a problem in some parts of the world and I always will appreciate being better informed about how to deal with it or even prevent something from happening. Anyone had much experience with rabid animals for instance? We have some heavy duty wildlife around here that can get pretty upset under some conditions but I don't think I have had any encounters with animals that I could say were rabid.

Anyways sorry for any apparent hostility.Metta and upekkha.

Dear Nathan,

hope all will go well with your shots and that you will feel good.

Rabies is a reality here, or used to be.

I've seen an animal with rabies at least once. It was a very sorry sight.

I think we had a mass program am of vaccinating foxes via food bait, and since then I haven't heard so much anymore.

I haven't felt well after vaccinations from flu and Tetanus, and so I hope you soon get over it.

Since it's hard work for the body to struggle with the "enemy" and create antibodies, it is good when you rest and sleep a lot.

Thanks Annnabel. Good suggestions. I take a lot of vitamins so that's no problem and same with diet. Sleep is another matter. Sometimes it is hard to come by and I have always slept far less than most people. I have learned to accept those things and work with them. The flu and tetanus shots were not a big deal but I had a few others that threw me for a while. It will be over a dozen injections before I am done the whole regiment but at that point the health office here assures me I will be about as ready to head to S.E. Asia as I could hope to be. I think it is worth the trouble and expense all things considered. It is very unfortunate about the animals that suffer. It would be great if we all learned to do more for them. Perhaps over time we will improve. Watching so many kinds of animals slowly disappearing from our world may eventually teach us to consider their needs as well. It is bringing a lot of people's thinking around. Thanks again for the kind thoughts. Feeling more 'normal' again now.